Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Digital Tuesday Challenge 'Distress It!'

Hello and welcome to another Digital Tuesday Challenge.  This week's challenge is 'Distress It!', simply make a card or project that looks a bit distressed and be sure to include at least one digital element.  Our sponsor this week is Sans Designs.

To make my card, I used the Sans Design image ' a Flower 4 U'.  This is actually a full body image, but I wanted to focus on just the upper part of her body, so I used a circular Nestabilitie and cut just the top half of the image.  Because I'm a Clean and Simple designer, distressing is usually difficult for me, so I used 'faded and distressed' looking designer papers from Prima 'Jack and Jill'.  The only other distressing I did was to take a scissors and roughen up all the edges of the paper.  I used seam binding and hemp for my ribbon embellishment to repeat the soft, worn look.  Dew drops were put in the corner and Stickles on the flowers.



If you'd like to play along with us this week, simply click on the Digital Tuesday Challenge Blinkie in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the Challenge Site with further instructions.  

Have a great day! Amy

Monday, April 29, 2013

Spring Has Arrived!

Hello!  After months of my griping about our horrible cold weather here in Northern Wisconsin, I thought you all had a right to know that SPRING HAS ARRIVED!   We had a beautiful weekend of temperatures in the 60's and 70's and I was able to spend about a day and half outside enjoying it.  The rest of the weekend I had church and work obligations, or I would have spent every waking minute outside! 

So in honor of spring, I decided to show you what bloomed first in my garden this year.....PUSSY WILLOWS!  When I was a child we had a Pussy Willow in my backyard.  I was always fascinated by the soft, feathery pods.  I looked forward to the bush blooming every spring.  Well our bush then was planted too close to our house so my mother had my father cut it down.  I was devastated, and mad at her for, well, probably forever.  So I made a decision as a small child that someday, when I had my very house I would plant my very own Pussy Willow in my yard.  And I did!  And guess what?  I planted it too close to the house and now it's overgrowing the space and my husband wants to cut it down!  Sign us up for marriage counseling now people! 

Now even though I have daffodils and tulips just starting to poke their little heads up out of the ground, I still don't have any fresh flowers to cut and bring inside to enjoy.  So while we were looking at our beautiful Pussy Willow tree that is now probably twelve feet tall and all the pods were at the very top of the tree, I said to my husband, 'I wish they weren't so high up on the tree.  The whole point of having a Pussy Willow tree is so you can feel the softness of the pods.  I can't even reach them'.  Well the next day, I had to work third shift, so I took a nap when I came home from church.  When I woke up to get ready for work and walked into my dining room this is what I saw:


 My very own Pussy Willows to admire close up and to touch!  My husband cut them down and brought them into the house for me to enjoy.  (Don't worry, the tree is still outside too!  He didn't cut that down!  Not yet anyway!)  I guess he isn't that bad after all.
 I love how the long stems make such a beautiful elegant arrangement.
And here is a close up for those of you who may have never heard of a Pussy Willow tree.  I'm actually not sure if its a bush or a tree, but mine is very tall, so I'm calling it a tree.   It comes to life in the Spring with these interested, fuzzy pods, which eventually burst open and become an 'o.k. looking flower', and then it's just leaves the rest of the summer. 

Soon, and very soon, I'll have FLOWERS to post!

Have a great day! Amy

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Digital Tuesday Challenge 'Birthdays!'


Hello and welcome to another Digital Tuesday Challenge.  This week's challenge is 'Birthdays!'.  Simply make a card or project with a Birthday Theme and be sure to include at least one digital element.  Our sponsor this week is MyGrafico and they are giving away one digi set to one lucky randomly chosen winner.

To make my card, I used the digital stamp set 'Aero Boy' by Deasy Designs and sold at MyGrafico.  I kept the card very simple because the images were so cute they could stand on their own!  I first printed a digital birthday sentiment onto sky blue card stock.  Then I printed the main image three times.  I colored and then cut out the full image and popped it up on dimensionals.  Then I colored and cut out just the circle engine part and popped that up on dimensionals, and finally, I colored and cut out just the propeller and popped that up on dimensionals.  It creates a really neat 3D effect in real life.  I then printed the sun and cloud images and cut them out and simply glued them to the blue card stock.
 Here is a close up so you can see the dimension better.
If you'd like to play along with us this week, simply click on the Digital Tuesday Challenge Blinkie in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the Challenge Site with further instructions.

Have a great day! Amy

Saturday, April 20, 2013

CASology 'Word'

Hello!  The CASology Challenge this week is 'Word', and since I haven't made any Christmas Cards yet for the SCS Christmas Card Challenge for the month of April, I decided to combine challenges and make my first April Christmas Card.  This is one of those cards you have to see in real life to appreciate.  The photograph just makes it appear very amateurish.  It's very 'sparkly' in real life because both the green background paper and black 'frame' are glitter papers.  The ornament is paper pieced and popped up on dimensionals.  I used a silver sparkly gel pen for the top of the bulb and a black sparkly gel pen around each letter.To keep it CAS I didn't want to use any 'adornments' like ribbon or fancy dies, but the glitter paper and glitter pens still add a lot of interest. 

 Here is a close up so you can see the dimension of the bulb and the glitter paper.
Only three more Christmas Cards to go to meet my quota for the month of April.  Ugh!  It is so hard making Christmas Cards in Spring, even though I STILL have snow on the ground and the weather is still cold.  My mind and heart are only dreaming of warm temps, flowers, birds and butterflies.

Have a great day! Amy

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Vintage Get Well

Hello!  I needed another Get Well Card for a friend at my church who had surgery this week.  I went with this trusty vintage nurse image from the Crafty Secrets Set 'Feeling Yucky'.  My papers are from Amy Tangerine.

Have a great day! Amy

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Digital Tuesday Challenge 'Spring Time!'

Hello and welcome to another Digital Tuesday Challenge.  This week's challenge is called 'Spring Time!'.  Such irony, as I have yet to experience any Spring Time temperatures here in Northern Wisconsin yet.  We drove home from church on Sunday in yet another snowstorm, with more snow expected to arrive this Thursday, and no warm temps in sight.  Ugh!  I know, I know, I've been whining about this for awhile now, but can you really blame me?  I love Spring, it's my favorite season, and I'm missing it!  Oh well, if I can't have Spring in real life, at least I can create it in paper!  Our sponsor this week is  The Paper Nest Dolls.

To make my card, I used The Paper Nest Dolls image 'Springtime Ellie'.  My sketch is from MFT (MFTWSC75).  The paper is Jillibean Soup.  

 I must admit, coloring all the tiny details in this image was a challenge for me.  I didn't like the way my flowers turned out, so I ended up covering most of them up with Flower Soft and Stickles.  I like the result in the end.  It's always funny to me when mistakes often turn into blessings.    Here's a close up so you can see the coloring and other details better.
If you'd like to play along with us this week, simply click on the Digital Tuesday Challenge Blinkie in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the Challenge Site with further instructions.

Have a great day! Amy

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Travel

Hello!  I found some time to play the CASology challenge this week, which is a Travel Theme.  I love to travel, so you would have thought it would be an easy challenge for me, but it wasn't.  I made three different attempts, before I was satisfied with the one card pictured below.  I hope they still consider this Clean and Simple, because it is too me.  I used an interesting sketch from Splitcoaststampers as my inspiration (SCS354) and this map paper from DCWV 'The Travel Stack'.  The elephant postage stamp image is retired Stampin Up! 'Balmy Breeze'.  I unraveled a bit of twill for my only embellishment.  The sentiment is retired Stampin Up! 'Beautiful Beach'.

I sure would love to be in Africa seeing Elephants right now.  Were still miserably cold and snowy in Northern Wisconsin, with no relief in site.  Spring, please, please, come.

Have a great day! Amy

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

Hello!  Last week the Casology Blog had a challenge called 'Up'.  This was suppose to be my submission, but I couldn't finish it in time for the deadline.  Such is my life.  That is why I don't play challenges too often.  

To make my card, I used an image from Crafty Secrets called 'Little Boy'.  I created my own 'sky' by using an MFT Cloud Die and sponging around the edges.  Then I created my own sentiment on the computer and used the same die to cut the cloud shape for the sentiment.  The images were stamped, then cut out and popped up on dimensionals.  The kite was paper pieced.

Were expecting another Winter Storm here in Northern Wisconsin, and my area is getting an ice storm!  UGH!  Will this winter ever end and Spring arrive?  It will be another terrifying drive to work again in the morning.  This was a fun card to make as I long, wish, and hope for Spring.

Have a great day! Amy

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Digital Tuesday Challenge 'Boys'

Hello and welcome to another Digital Tuesday Challenge.  This week's challenge is 'Boys'.  Simply make a card or project for a little boy and be sure to include at least one digital element.  Our sponsor this week is Spesch Designer Stamps.

To make my card, I used a Vintage image from the Crafty Secret's Set 'Little Boys'.  My digital element is the center panel of digi paper from the digi paper set 'Baby Boy Digi Papers' by Kris Breach.  The rest of the paper is from Echo Park 'Scoot'.  My sketch is from MFT.

If you'd like to play along with us this week, simply click on the Digital Tuesday Challenge Blinkie in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the Challenge Site with further instructions.

Have a great day! Amy

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Another 'Red Hat' Birthday

Hello!  I had another turn 50 this month, (my were all getting older!) so I pulled out my trusty, retired Stampin Up! set  'Going Out in Style' to create this card.  You can see my other 50th Birthday Card using this set HERE.

To make my card, I used a Mojo Monday Sketch (244).  I stuck with the traditional turning 50 colors Red and Purple and used lots of white space.  I stamped a variety of hats onto the red panel and added a simple purple flower with a dew drop and red ribbon for embellishment.  I also put Stickles on the woman's necklace and ring.  The inside has a hat stamped on it too with a sentiment.  (Sorry, no picture)
Have a great day! Amy

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Digital Tuesday Challenge 'Try Something New!'

Hello and welcome to another Digital Tuesday Challenge.  This week's challenge is to 'Try Something New!'.  Simply incorporate a new paper crafting trend into your card or project and be sure to include at least one digital element.  Our sponsor this week is Oak Pond Creations and they are giving away three digis to one lucky randomly chosen winner.

To make my card, I used the Oak Pond Creations image 'Reading Rabbits'.  The new paper crafting trend I decided to try was 'Canvas'.  I used scalloped border die from MFT on the canvas and it cut very well, but when I tried to use a flower die, I couldn't get a clean cut and I couldn't understand why it would work so well on the border die, but not the flower.  They both have rounded edges.  I tried using both Spellbinders and MFT flower dies, and neither one cut the canvas well.  It should be noted that it's not regular canvas you would find in a fabric store, it's a very thin canvas made specifically for paper crafting and it's located in the paper crafting department of JoAnn's Fabrics and Crafts.  I inked the edges of the flower, to highlight the layers better.  Seam Binding, floss, and a Martha Stewart tag Punch  were added for embellishment.


If you'd like to play along with us this week, simply click on the Digital Tuesday Challenge Blinkie in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the challenge blog with further instructions.

Have a great day! Amy